Markets may open in the red amid negative global cues

The early indication from SGX Nifty suggests that Indian markets may open with marginal losses at the opening bell. Also, the negative sentiments prevailing across the globe indicate pressure at the opening as global growth concerns came to haunt markets after the European Central Bank (ECB) slashed growth forecast. At the time of writing, SGX Nifty was trading at 11,068, down by 0.18 per cent. For Nifty, the zone of 10,980-11,000 is going to act as a crucial support, while on the upside, only a move above the February 7 high of 11,118 could provide a fresh impetus.

The major Asian indices are a sea of red on Friday amid global growth worries after the ECB downgraded the EU region growth target and decided to infuse more cash into the system to help the economy to revive. China’s Shanghai Composite index has slumped 1.59 per cent, Japanese stock market Nikkei is reporting a drop of 1.46 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index has lost 1.12 per cent.

Back home, on Thursday, the benchmark indices managed to keep their heads above the neutral line and ended the session with meagre gains and extended the upmove for the fourth straight session. However, the indices lacked the strength and conviction as they moved in a defined range. In the end, BSE Sensex closed up by 0.24 per cent and Nifty rose 0.05 per cent. Divergent trend was seen in the broader markets with Nifty Midcap and Smallcap shedding 0.30 per cent and 0.34 per cent, respectively. Talking about sectoral indices, a mixed trend was seen as Nifty PSU Banks and Nifty FMCG ended as top gainers, while Nifty Media and Nifty Pharma corrected heavily by over a per cent.

The US stocks extended their downward move for the fourth session on Thursday on the back of the ECB slashing its economic growth forecast for the European Union for the coming year. Also, the central bank said it now expects Eurozone interest rates to remain at the current level at least till the year-end. The Dow lost 0.78 per cent, the Nasdaq plunged 1.13 per cent and the S&P 500 dropped 0.81 per cent.

The European stocks edged lower on Thursday as the announcement from the ECB took a toll on investor sentiments. The ECB left its monetary policy stance unchanged, but acted to spark a dovish reaction when it unveiled the launch of another round of bank loans to try to help revive the economy. Furthermore, ECB President stated that the Eurozone growth outlook for this year was now expected to be 1.1 per cent as against the previous estimate of 1.7 per cent, while the forecast for the next year was revised to 1.6 per cent from 1.7 per cent. The DAX of Germany slipped 0.6 per cent and the CAC 40 plunged 0.39 per cent, while the FTSE 100 of the UK declined 0.53 per cent.